▪ I. launch, n.1
(lɔːnʃ, formerly lɑːnʃ)
[f. launch v.]
† 1. The action or an act of lancing; a prick. Obs.
| 1558 Traheron in S. R. Maitland Ess. Reform. (1849) 80 If I shal perceaue that it shalbe to your welth, I wil not sticke to giue you a launch or two. 1596 Spenser Hymn Heavenly Love 162 What hart can feele least touch of so sore launch? |
2. The action or an act of launching, shooting forth, or springing. Obs. exc. dial.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 290/2 Lawnche, or skyppe, saltus. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Launch, a long stride. 1897 W. C. Russell Last Entry 241 The schooner..swept in long floating launches down upon the boat. |
† 3. concr. Shoots of a plant. Also fig. Obs.
| a 1400 Pistill of Susan (Ingilby MS.) 109 Þe lyly, þe louage, þe launches so lefe. c 1430 Hymns Virg. 3 Veni de libano, þou loueli in launche. |
4. a. The action or process of launching a vessel. Also fig. and transf., and with out. b. The starting off of a bird in flight.
| 1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman Pleasure I. 18, I soon came to a resolution of making this launch into the wide world, by repairing to London. 1814 Scott Let. to Southey 17 June in Lockhart, The first time I happened to see a launch. 1835–6 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 298/1 The first launch of the bird into the air is produced by an ordinary leap from the ground. 1857 Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. VIII. 193, I have seen the commencement of railways, and witnessed the ‘launch’ of the first locomotive. 1879 J. Martineau Ess. (1891) IV. 271 Its daring launch-out on the ocean of real being. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 223/2 Bearing surfaces should be well greased..before the launch takes place. 1969 J. Argenti Managem. Techniques v. 25 Anxiety that the launch date [of a product] will be missed. 1969 Punch 15 Jan. 96/2 The Ford Capri, a sort of shrunken Mustang, is being built in Britain and Germany and will be launched later this month. But, of course, ‘the launch’, as the trade calls it, is not as simple as that. 1971 Sunday Express (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. 5/1 Mr. Uys..vetoed the display of the same model's nipple when the launch advertisement was submitted. |
c. The launching of a missile, spacecraft, glider, or the like. (See also sense 7 below.)
| 1935 C. H. Latimer-Needham Gliding & Soaring x. 170 The wind velocity should be ascertained and allowed for in any method of mechanical launching or too vigorous a launch may be given unwittingly. 1952 F. Geen A.B.C. of Gliding 95 The easiest launch is a full-height nose launch. 1963 Ann. Reg. 1962 397 The closely matched orbits of the two astronauts also required precise timing of their launches. 1966 Economist 18 June 1307/1 The first of three such launches which are to put a chain of 24 defence communications satellites in synchronous orbit round the earth. 1969 Observer 20 July 9/8 The astronauts..sleep or doze for nearly five hours before preparing for the launch. |
5. concr. in Ship-building. (See quot. 1850.)
| 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 23 Erecting a Ship on the Launch, and launching her from thence. 1712 Lond. Gaz. No. 5019/5 Wherein are two large Launches and a large dry Dock. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 128 Launch, the slip or descent whereon the ship is built, including the whole of the machinery used in launching. |
6. dial. A trap for taking eels.
| 1847 in Halliwell. |
7. attrib. and Comb. as (sense 4 c) launch crew, launch date, launch site, launch vehicle; launch-block, launch-ways (Cent. Dict.) = launching-ways, launching-planks; launch pad = launching pad; launch window, a period outside which the planned launch of a spacecraft cannot take place if the journey is to be completed, owing to the changing positions of the planets.
| 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton iii. (1840) 50 A launch-block and cradles. |
| 1962 J. Glenn in Into Orbit 6 The most junior member of the launch crew. 1969 Daily Mail 15 Jan. 5/3 Then suddenly it was now—launch date just around the corner. |
| 1960 News Chron. 29 Sept. 9/6 The 100-foot rocket sat immobile on its launch-pad. 1968 Times 23 Dec. 6/3 Captain Lovell and Major Anders..climbed into a van which took them to the launch pad. 1969 Times 3 June Suppl. p. iii/1 The world's largest tracked vehicle, ‘the crawler’,..carried..Saturn 5..from its lofty assembly building to launchpad 39A. 1969 Listener 20 Feb. 233/2 When you fly over the Soviet Union, can you see their launch sites? |
| 1965 New Scientist 18 Mar. 701/1 The Gemini spacecraft, launch vehicle and target vehicle are all derived from hardware and technology already in existence. 1966 Sci. Amer. Jan. 54 Because of various failures in the launch-vehicle guidance system..a lunar landing was not accomplished. |
| 1965 Newsweek 29 Nov. 40/3 It is thought they may even try a third shot before the launch window closes in December. 1966 Sci. News Let. 3 Sept. 165 The 20-day period centered around the launch date allowing travel between planets on an orbit requiring the least amount of energy. This is the so-called ‘launch window’ used to hurl space vehicles from earth to the moon. 1968 Radio Times 19 Dec. 41/4 As to timing, they must choose a launch window several days long when the Moon is in the right position relative to the Earth, when the sun is in the right position relative to the lunar landing sites, and when Apollo 8 can return to a suitable landing on Earth. |
Add: [4.] d. The placing of a new product on the market; the publicity event at which this takes place.
| 1969 J. Argenti Managem. Techniques v. 25 Anxiety that the launch date [of a product] will be missed. 1969 Punch 15 Jan. 96/2 The Ford Capri, a sort of shrunken Mustang, is being built in Britain and Germany and will be launched later this month. But, of course, ‘the launch’, as the trade calls it, is not as simple as that. 1971 Sunday Express (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. 5/1 Mr. Uys..vetoed the display of the same model's nipple when the launch advertisement was submitted. 1983 Willis & Lee Captain's Diary x. 168 The afternoon was hectic—a book launch for Glenn Turner,..and then a store appearance. 1986 Linlithgowshire Jrnl. & Gaz. 17 July 13/3 Since its launch in 1980 ‘The Face’ magazine has reached a worldwide readership. 1991 R.A.F. News 1 Nov. 7/1 Some of them were at the launch, at the Imperial War Museum. |
[7.] launch pad: also fig.
| 1980 Encounter May 75/1 Even more dubious than the writer's obvious failure to ascertain simple facts is his tendency to use his impressions as a launch-pad for daring sociological speculation. 1989 Franchise Mag. Spring 80/2 The company sees the deal with Mansfield as a launchpad for its plans to penetrate the European market. 1995 Nursing Times 22 Mar. 98/2 (Advt.), The D grade staff nurse posts are excellent launch pads for career minded nurses. |
▪ II. launch, n.2
(lɔːnʃ, formerly lɑːnʃ)
Also 7–8 lanch.
[ad. Sp. lancha pinnace, perh. of Malay origin: see lanchara, lantcha.]
1. The largest boat of a man-of-war, more flat-bottomed than a long boat, for use in shallow water, usually sloop-rigged.
| 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 2 The Craft which carried us was a Lanch, or Long Boat. 1742 Woodroofe in Hanway Trav. (1762) I. ii. xvii. 76 We had..a launch of ten tuns with sixteen oars. 1833 Marryat P. Simple (1863) 248 The launch, yawl, first and second cutters, were the boats appointed for the expedition. |
2. A large boat propelled by electricity, steam, etc. (electric launch, steam-launch) used for transporting passengers, or as a pleasure-craft. Comb. launchman, a man who operates a launch.
| 1865 Livingstone Zambesi xxi. 423 Natives from all parts of the country came to see the launch. 1880 Daily Tel. 26 Nov., The Judge directed them that to find a verdict of guilty they must be satisfied that the defendant omitted to perform an obvious duty in navigating his launch. |
| Comb. 1894 C. H. Cook Thames Rights 21 On the Thames, some 370 launch-owners endanger the lives of many thousands of people. Ibid. 28 A man absolutely ignorant of steam or other vessels may be a launch-driver. 1924 J. Masefield Sard Harker 146 Everybody was very still, except for the launchman munching his onion. 1928 Daily Mail 13 Aug. 13/4 The complement consists of captain, first and second mate, two cooks, two stewards, boatswain, launchman, and able seamen. 1963 M. Shadbolt in C. K. Stead N.Z. Short Stories (1966) 322 So my father produced the launchman and people from the township as witnesses. |
3. Special Comb.: launch-engine (see quot. a 1877).
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. II. 1266/2 Launch-engines generally consist of a boiler with engines attached thereto, and are used for propelling the launches of large ocean steamers in shallow harbors, etc. 1889 P. N. Hasluck Model Engineer's Handybk. vi. 69 A double cylinder launch engine fitted with reversing motion. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 23 Mar. 4/3 A very fine launch-engine, fitted with..reversing gear. |
▪ III. launch, v.
(lɔːnʃ, formerly lɑːnʃ)
Forms: 4–5 launche, (5 laun-, lawnchyn, launsche), 5–6 lawnche, 5–9 lanch(e, (6 lange, launge), 6– launch.
[ad. ONF. lancher = Central OF. lancier: see lance v.]
† 1. a. trans. To pierce, transfix, wound; cut, slit; to make (a wound) by piercing. Also with up. Obs.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 6811 Toax..with a tore speire..hym launchit to dethe. 1460 Libeaus Desc. 293 (Kaluza) Wiþ his sper he will launche All þat aȝens him rit. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop v. x, Two rammes within a medowe whiche with theyr hornes launched eche other. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 37 Whose love hath gryde My feeble brest of late, and launched this wound wyde. 1596 Ibid. vi. ii. 6 A sharpe bore-speare, With which he wont to launch the salvage hart Of many a Lyon. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 12 In the beginning of August lanch they the rine, from whence the masticke distilleth. 1622 Beaum. & Fl. Faithf. Shepherdess iv. iii, Hee, Directed by his fury, Bloodelye, Lanch't vpp her brest. 1670 Dryden 1st Pt. Conq. Granada i. i, Nine Bulls were launch'd by his victorious arm. |
† b. To cut with a lancet, to lance; to let out (infection) by lancing. Obs.
| 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 18357 For pouerte Is bothe medicyne and leche To launche the bocche off Properte. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. 82 a, So wil they giue them more..to feede their sores then to launch them. 1598 Queen Elizabeth Plutarch xiv. 23 As wound that bloudies hit self while hit is Launged. 1604 Drayton Owl 310 To lanch th' infection of a poysoned state. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 10 If you be wary, you need not launch or cut the gum at all. 1641 T. Edwards Reasons agst. Independancy 10 The foote..is dressed, lanched and ordered, not by it selfe, but by the hands and eyes. |
| fig. 1625 Quarles Sion's Elegies ii. xiv. D 2 b, Thy Prophets..Rubb'd where they should haue launcht. 1640 Fuller Joseph's Coat, David's Repent. (1867) 224 Nathan, than whom was none more skilled to lanch A festered soul. |
2. a. To hurl, shoot, discharge, send off (a missile) (cf. lance v. 1); spec. to send off (a rocket, spacecraft, or the like, or an astronaut) on its (or his) course: (cf. 4 b, from which this use may equally derive). † Also, to heave (the lead).
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 750 Schipe-mene..Launchez lede apone lufe. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xliii. 164 Launchynge and castyng to hym speres and dartes. 1697 Dryden æneid ii. 364 And launch'd against their Navy Phrygian fire. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ix, All the thunders of heaven seemed launched at this defenceless head. 1808 Scott Marm. i. Introd. 80 Nor mourn ye less his perished worth Who..launched that thunderbolt of war On Egypt. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville I. 268 Much as they thirsted for his blood, they forebore to launch a shaft. 1873 Mercier & King tr. Verne's From Earth to Moon 145 The gun destined to launch the projectile had to be fixed in a country situated between the 0 and 28th degrees of north or south latitude. Ibid., Launched on the 1st of December,..it ought to reach the moon four days after its departure. 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 50/1 A forecastle deck large enough to enable a seaplane to be launched therefrom on a light subsidiary carriage. 1952 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. X. 17/2 The German guided missiles..launched against London from the French coast were driven by their own power and were automatically controlled. 1957 Britannica Bk. of Year 443 The first artificial earth satellite..was launched from a site in the U.S.S.R...on Oct. 4, 1957. 1960 J. N. Bell Seven into Space i. 15 He knows an excitement so intense that it seems he can no longer contain it. The first American has been launched into space. 1972 A. C. Kermode Mech. of Flight (ed. 8) xii. 390 As with the X15 these [sc. lifting bodies] are launched from a mother craft. 1974 Daily Tel. 14 Feb. 1/3 Two more spaceships, Mars-6, and Mars-7, which were launched last August, were due to approach the planet next month. |
| absol. c 1500 Melusine xxi. 137 Thanne bygan the Cypryens..to shote & to launche on the paynemes. |
b. with immaterial object, e.g. a blow, censure, threat, sentence.
| 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) VII. 196 The best in the world to launch a guess. 1865 Lecky Ration. (1878) I. 251 Week after week he launched from the pulpit the most scathing invectives. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xii. 89 The assembled Fathers at once went on to launch the censures of the church against offenders of every degree. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. II. xvi. 345 A threat launched especially at the Despensers. 1886 G. T. Stokes Celtic Ch. (1888) 171 Jerome, therefore, launched a treatise against him. |
† c. To throw (a person); refl. to hurl oneself, dart, rush. Obs.
| 13.. Seuyn Sag. (W.) 1904 The louerd..in a bed he dede hire launche. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xxxix. 315 Then do they launch themselves foorth. |
d. To dart forward (a weapon, a limb, etc.). Now only, to dart out (something long and flexible).
| c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 437 Doun his hand he launcheth to the clifte. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 461 Hyr syxthe hand she gan to launche Lowe doun vn-to hyr haunche. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop iii. ii, The booll..smote strongly whith his feet after the man and launched his hornes at hym. 1847–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. IV. 293/1 The whole tongue is then launched out with a rapidity that is perfectly amazing. |
3. a. intr. for refl. To be set into sudden or rapid motion; to rush, plunge, start or shoot forth; † to leap, vault; transf. to ‘skip’ in reading. Obs. exc. dial.
| 13.. K. Alis. 3746 He gan in the water launche: Up he cam in that othir side. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 194 Of ilke a leche the lowe launschide fulle hye. Ibid. 2560 Who lukes to the lefte syde, whene his horse launches. c 1400 Destr. Troy 12307 Þai demet þe duke..to..launche out of towne. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 290/2 Lawnchyn, or skyppyn ouer a dyke,..perconto. 1480 Caxton Ovid's Met. xi. xix, The mortal floodes launchid in by the places opend. ? a 1500 Chester Pl. vii. 469 Lanch on! I will not be the last upon Mary for to marveyle. 1552 Huloet, Launche to shore, appellere ripam. 1570 Levins Manip. 22/34 To lanch ouer a boke, percurrere. 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 45 He [a fish] will launch and plunge in such a manner, that..he will tear away his hold. 1814 W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1864) I. 317 The poor animal..gazed at me..and then launching away to the left, I presently heard it plunge into the river. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Launch, to take long strides. |
† b. transf. To shoot, sprout. Also, to project.
| 1401 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 90 Thei ben bastard braunches that launchen from oure bileve. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 49 The Cape lanches into the Sea with Three Points. |
c. fig. (Now usually with out.) To enter boldly or freely into a course of action; to rush into expense; to burst out into unrestrained speech. † to launch it out: to flaunt, make a display.
| 1608 Middleton Fam. Love v. iii. I 3, If master Gerardine..would yet be induced to take your Neece..would you launch with a thousand pound, besides her fathers portion? 1622 Fletcher Sp. Curate ii. i, When you love, lanch it out in silks and velvets. 1624 Bedell Lett. vii. 115 Thus Pamelius; and presently lanches forth into the Priuiledges of the See of Rome. 1685 Boyle Enq. Notion Nat. vi. 196, I want time to launch into an ample discourse. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 49 ¶4 He enjoys a great Fortune handsomly, without lanching into Expence. 1712–13 Pope Guardian No. 4 ¶6 There is no subject I could lanch into with more pleasure than your panegyrick. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 430, I have lanch'd out of my subject in this Article. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 136 One launching out upon my complexion, another upon my eyes. 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman (1841) I. vii. 49 He has perhaps launched out in trade beyond his reach. c 1820 S. Rogers Italy Descent 38 For awhile he held his peace..But soon, the danger passed, launched forth again. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. iii. vii. (1864) II. 143 The triumphant Pontiff..launches out into a panegyric on the mercy and benignity of the usurper. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvi. xv. (1872) VI. 316, I began to launch-out on Friedrich's actions, but he rapidly interrupted. 1887 Jessopp Arcady i. 9 The small man..is..slow to launch out into expense when things are going well. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men I. iii. 358 You could not vex him more than by launching out against some common acquaintance. 1889 Ruskin Præterita III. 11 She launched involuntarily into an eager and beautiful little sermon. |
4. a. trans. To cause (a vessel) to move or slide from the land, or the stocks, into the water; to set afloat; to lower (a boat) into the water.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3921 He..Gers lawnche his botes appone a lawe watire. 1511 Nottingham Rec. III. 332 To lawnche the boote in to the water. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccccxiii. 722 There came two other barkes..and anone they were langed into the ryuer. 1555 Act 2 & 3 Ph. & Mary c. 16 §7 Before the said Boate..bee lanched out of the Yarde or Grounde. c 1590 Marlowe Faust xiii. 91 Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships. 1653 Holcroft Procopius iii. x. 92 He lancht into the Tiber also 200. Pinnaces. 1702 Pope Sappho 250 O launch thy bark, nor fear the wat'ry plain. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 45 From these sheds they are launched into the deep canals. 1821 J. Baillie Metr. Leg., Columbus lviii. 2 Ere from his home He launch his vent'rous bark. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. iii. 45 Our boats must be sledged over some 60..miles of terrible ice before launching and loading them. |
b. In wider sense: To send off, start upon a course, send adrift; spec. to release (a balloon or its contents) into the air at the beginning of a flight. (Cf. 2.)
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiii. 62 Out goes the boat, they are lanched from the ship side. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 217 When Pudding-Wives were launcht in cock quean Stools. 1715–20 Pope Iliad viii. 455 Haste, lanch thy chariot, thro' yon ranks to ride. 1820 Scott Ivanhoe xxxi, Fling open the door, and lanch the floating bridge. 1824 Encycl. Brit. Suppl. I. 83/1 It was soon found, that a balloon, launched into the atmosphere, is abandoned, without guidance or command, to the mercy of the winds. 1831 Brewster Newton (1855) I. xiii. 359 The planets, like the comets, might have been launched in different directions. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. I. 103/2 On 19 Sept. 1783..they launched a sheep, a cock and a duck into the air, enclosed in a basket suspended beneath the balloon. |
c. fig. To start (a person) in, into, or on a business, career, etc.; to set on foot (a project); to commence (an action). Also with out. to launch into eternity: rhetorically for ‘to put to death’.
| 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. iv. G b, Was neuer Prince..With louder shouts of tryumph launched out Into the surgy maine of gouernment. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. 217 Being lanched again into the gulf of misery. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 108 ¶7 We find several Citizens that were lanched into the World with narrow Fortunes. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. xiii. (1840) 274, I am now launched quite beside my design. 1802 Med. Jrnl. viii. 275 The mention of this term serves to launch the author into a digression. 1812 Examiner 30 Nov. 768/1 The platform, from whence he was to be launched into eternity. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville I. 43 The worthy captain,..fairly launched on the broad prairies, with his face to the boundless west. 1839–40 ― Wolfert's R. (1855) 213 It was agreed that..as soon as I should be fairly launched in business we would be married. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola vi, The pretty youngster..was well launched in Bardo's favourable regard. 1872 Yeats Growth Comm. 275 The Mississippi scheme launched by John Law. 1884 H. B. Buckley in Law Times Rep. 22 Mar. 115/1 The plaintiff himself has launched this action in the Chancery Division. |
d. To publish (a book); to put (a product, etc.) on the market.
| 1870 ‘Mark Twain’ Lett. to Publishers (1967) 45 We'll have someone standing ready to launch a book right on our big tidal wave and swim it into a success. 1919 J. Quinn Let. 3 Oct. in T. S. Eliot Waste Land Drafts (1971) p. xvii, My part in connection with launching your book is finished. 1926 H. Crane Let. 5 Dec. (1965) 278 Once this first book is really launched and off my mind. 1966 Listener 17 Nov. 716/3 The complicated process of launching a new American car. 1969 J. Argenti Managem. Techniques v. 25 To launch a product is a complex project. |
5. intr. Of the ship: To be launched, to pass into the water.
| 1665 Lond. Gaz. No. 5/4 The Resolution now in the Dock, Launches on Tuesday 28. 1677 W. Hughes Man of Sin iii. iii. 67 A fourth,..with some Prayers and three signings of the Cross made a Ship lanch with few men. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) H 4, Cradles, placed under the bottom, to conduct the ship..into the water whilst lanching. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 26 Nov. 6/2 The payment was refused on the ground that the Deal lifeboat launched to the same wreck. |
6. To push forth, out from land, put to sea, advance seawards; lit. and fig. to launch into eternity: rhetorically for ‘to die’.
| 1534 Tindale Luke v. 4 He sayde vnto Simon: Launche out in to the depe. 1555 Eden Decades 55 He lanched from that lande and directed his course to Vraba. 1598 Drayton Heroic. Ep. xiii. 53 The Thames..That danc'd my Barge, in lanching from the stayre. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies i. xviii. 60, I doe not finde in ancient bookes, that they have lanched farre into the Ocean. a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 385 What need I lanch forth into this forrain deep? 1676 Dryden Aurengz. ii. i. 25 Lanching out into a Sea of strife. 1720 Mrs. Manley Power of Love (1741) I. 123 He was afraid his Soul should launch into Eternity without a Guide to direct his Penitence. 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman (1841) I. ii. 12 The time of my servitude being at length expired, I am now launched forth into the great ocean of business. 1766 Hume Let. to H. Walpole in W.'s Remin. 165, I find I am launching out insensibly into an immense ocean of common-place. 1769 Burke Late St. Nation Wks. II. 160 To have launched into a new sea, I fear a boundless sea, of expence. 1773 Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 21 Sept., We launched into one of the straits of the Atlantick Ocean. 1838 Thirlwall Greece II. xii. 107 Before any Greek navigator ventured..to launch out beyond Sicily. 1875 Longfellow Masque of Pandora ii, Forth I launch On the sustaining air. |
7. trans. Naut. † a. To set up, hoist (a yard). b. To move (casks, heavy goods, etc.) by pushing. c. ‘Launch-ho! The order to let go the top-rope, after the top-mast has been swayed up and fidded’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867).
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ix. 41 Vnparrell the mizen yard and lanch it, and the saile ouer her Lee quarter. 1692 Capt. Smith's Seaman's Gram. (ed. 3) i. xvi. 79 When a Yard is hoisted high enough, they usually call aloud Launch-hoe, that is hoise no more. 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 161 To Launch;..to leave off pulling, haling, or heaving. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Launch, a term used in several sea phrases, as launch out the capstan bars, that is, put them out; launch aft, or foreward on, that is, when things are stowed in the hold, to put them more aft, or foreward on. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Lanch, the order to let go the top-rope, after any top-mast is fided. |
8. Public School slang. (See quots.)
| 1865 G. F. Berkeley My Life, etc. I. 129, I had [at Sandhurst about 1815] to undergo the usual torments of being ‘launched’, that is, having my bed reversed while I was asleep [etc.]. 1878 H. C. Adams Wykehamica 426 Launch, to drag a boy, bed-clothes, mattress, and all, off his bedstead on to the floor. |
9. intr. To propel a boat with a pole, etc.; spec. in Wild-fowl shooting (see quot. 1824).
| 1824 P. Hawker Instr. Yng. Sportsmen (ed. 3) 329 Off they set,..crawling on their knees, and shoving this punt before them on the mud. Thus travelling all night (by ‘launching’ over the mud, and rowing across the creeks). 1856 P. Thompson Hist. Boston 713 Launching—propelling a barge or small vessel in a river by means of a poy. |
10. dial. (See quot.)
| 1847 Halliwell s.v., To launch leeks is to plant them like celery in trenches. West. |
[2.] [c.] Delete Obs. For def read: To throw (a person); refl., to hurl oneself; dart, rush. Also fig. (Later examples.)
| 1762 Sterne Tr. Shandy V. xxix. 104 Gymnast..launched himself aloft into the air. 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick III. xlviii. 287 The first uprising momentum of the whale..involuntarily launched him along it [sc. the boat]; to a little distance from the centre of the destruction he had made. 1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It li. 362 He then launched himself lovingly into his work. 1915 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Island xvi. 166 Rusty..launched himself at the Sarah-cat. The stately animal had stopped washing her face and was looking at him curiously. a 1961 P. Rooney in Webster II. 1278/1 Suddenly launched himself from between his guards..and vanished into the rocks and heather, still handcuffed. 1992 Boston Globe 31 July 68/4 She thundered down the runway, launched herself skyward and struck her first vault for a 9.975. |
[5.] b. fig. Of a product, enterprise, etc.: to begin operation or trading; to be made publicly available.
| 1968 Campaign 1 Nov. 1/5 Since Campaign launched on September 12, [etc.]. 1984 Broadcast 7 Dec. 8/1 Called Beeb, it launches on 29 January with an initial print run of 400,000 and is clearly aimed to rival ITV's paper. 1987 Times 2 Apr. 19/3 When the new publishing house of Bloomsbury launches today, its fictional first-born will be Trust by Mary Flanagan. 1991 Campaign 16 Aug. 10/5 With..Black Briton launching shortly. |
11. Mil. To mount (an assault or offensive); to open (an engagement, hostilities, etc.). Also fig.
| 1916 Times 18 May 6/3 In the Lagarina Valley..the enemy yesterday launched five violent attacks..on the slopes north of Zugna Torta. 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 601/1 A week later the Austrian offensive was launched. 1940 J. Colville Diary 13 Jan. in Fringes of Power (1985) 70 The Cabinet has received information that an attack may be launched by the Germans against Holland and Belgium. 1961 G. F. Kennan Russia & West xii. 168 He launched an offensive which carried Polish forces in a fortnight all the way to the Dnepr River. 1981 S. Chitty Gwen John vi. 87 She launched a campaign of which a general might have been proud. 1988 Financial Times 24 Mar. 46/5 A British advertising agency..has launched a bitter legal attack against six senior..executives. |